Witch Child

Witch Child

Celia Rees

2000 * p. 260 * YA Historical Fiction

Mary is a witch. She and her grandmother (also a witch) live in 1659 England. The novel begins with Mary's grandmother being seized by the townspeople, thrown into the pond to see if she'll float, and then is hung for witchcraft. Mary is then quickly taken by a stranger and thrown into a carriage with a mysterious and regal woman. The woman barely talks, but has her bathed, fed, and dressed in new clothes. The woman then tells her that she is to be put on a ship to America with a Puritan group.

She is terrified to leave, but has nothing to stay for. The woman tells her that it will be safer for her in America. (The woman's identity is a suprise to Mary; you'll have to read!) So Mary sails to America with the Puritans and is welcomed and companioned with a woman named Martha. On the ship, Mary hopes that she can keep her secret and not run into trouble. She is fearful of being caught and looks forward to reaching their destination: Salem!

I loved this book. What is really interesting, is that Mary was supposedly a real individual who left behind a journal that Celia Rees has fashioned into a fictional novel based on her life.

Mary is a good witch. She is more like a gypsy who works with herbs and has special gifts and talents. She never uses them for evil, and sometimes her powers and visions come even if she doesn't want them. When she suddenly sees a friend's future, and how he will die, she comments:

"The visions came to me unbidden, just as they did to my grandmother, but I knew the gift did not come from her. It comes from my mother. This is art of a different order, beyond my grandmother's power. I felt it settle about my shoulders like a weighty mantle" (83).

The novel is very realistic, suspenseful, and twists and turns many times. I was a little perturbed at the ending. I had questions that weren't answered. But I still loved, loved, loved it.

-Reading level: grade 9 & up

-References to witchcraft (evil witchcraft done by others)

-Pregnancy out of marriage

-A hanging scene (though not detailed)

-A great segue way into teaching about the Salem Witch Trials, or as a bridge to Arthur Miller's The Crucible